By Xinhua,
Beijing : Claiming a standoff with Thailand over land near an ancient temple has created “an imminent state of war,” Cambodia on Tuesday asked the U.N. Security Council to intervene in the dispute.
But a clash seemed a remote possibility near the hilltop Preah Vihear temple, where more than 4,000 troops from both countries were camped out. The soldiers — some without their weapons — shared cigarettes, ate and chatted together in a disputed area a few hundred yards from the site.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, using the harshest terms yet in the confrontation, said he had no choice but to appeal to the United Nations after discussions with Thailand on Monday failed to produce a breakthrough in the weeklong crisis. He made a similar request to the grouping of Southeast Asian nations.
“In the face of this imminent state of war, this very serious threat to our independence and territorial integrity, we have an obligation to resort to the U.N. Security Council,” Hor Namhong said.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat rejected the appeal to the U.N., saying he still felt “that bilateral options are still not exhausted.”
The dispute over 1.8 square miles of land near the Preah Vihear temple escalated earlier this month when UNESCO approved Cambodia’s application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site.